"Paaji, Teach Them": When Navjot Singh Sidhu Asked Aamer Sohail To School Pakistan Fast Bowlers

Navjot Singh Sidhu was in brilliant touch. He was batting at his 90s and Pakistan fast bowlers including the likes of the great Waqar Younis failed to get the better off him in the fourth match in Sharjah Cup, 1996. It was then when Navjot Singh Sidhu went up to then Pakistan captain Aamer Sohail and asked him to school his fast bowlers.

Navjot Singh Sindhu came to me angrily and said paaji, teach your fast bowler: Aamer Sohail

Pakistan had got off to a good start after dismissing opener Vikram Rathour for two runs. But Sachin Tendulkar (118) and Sidhu (101) stitched together a 231-run partnership for the second wicket to take the match away from Pakistan. It was during this innings when a dramatic incident broke out between Sidhu and Sohail.

“The incident took place when I was captaining Pakistan in 1996 in a match at Sharjah against India. Sidhu paaji was batting somewhere in the 90s,” Aamer Sohail said on his YouTube channel.

“In the middle of an over, he came to me angrily and said ‘Aamir paaji, teach your fast bowler. He is doing this wrong’, so I asked him ‘paaji, what happened’. So, he said ‘he’s throwing abuses at me’. So I told him ‘paaji, ignore him.

“He’s a fast bowler, they have a habit of talking’. So he said, ‘no, no, say whatever you want but don’t give abuses’. So I said ‘okay paaji, I will tell him after the game, you go on and play,” he added.

Sohail, himself, failed to pick up any wickets in the match as he went for 49 runs in his 10 overs. But he returned strongly with the bat to score 78 runs. However, India won the contest by 28 runs, with Sachin Tendulkar being adjudged the man-of-the-match.